Quantifying peat carbon accumulation in Alaska using a process-based biogeochemistry model
Abstract
This study uses an integrated modeling framework that couples the dynamics of hydrology, soil thermal regime, and ecosystem carbon and nitrogen to quantify the long-term peat carbon accumulation in Alaska during the Holocene. Modeled hydrology, soil thermal regime, carbon pools and fluxes, and methane emissions are evaluated using observation data at several peatland sites in Minnesota, Alaska, and Canada. The model is then applied for a 10,000 year (15 ka to 5 ka; 1 ka = 1000 cal years before present) simulation at four peatland sites. We find that model simulations match the observed carbon accumulation rates at fen sites during the Holocene (R2 = 0.88, 0.87, 0.38, and -0.05 using comparisons in 500 year bins). The simulated (2.04 m) and observed peat depths (on average 1.98 m) were also compared well (R2 = 0.91). The early Holocene carbon accumulation rates, especially during the Holocene thermal maximum (HTM) (35.9 g C m-2 yr-1), are estimated up to 6 times higher than the rest of the Holocene (6.5 g C m-2 yr-1). Our analysis suggests that high summer temperature and the lengthened growing season resulted from the elevated insolation seasonality, along with wetter-than-before conditions might be major factors causing the rapidmore »
- Authors:
-
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, and Dept. of Agronomy
- Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA (United States). Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States). Inst. of Ecology and Evolution
- Chapman Univ., Orange, CA (United States). Schmid College of Science and Technology
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1469351
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1402324
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0008092; IIS‐1027955
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 121; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-8953
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Citation Formats
Wang, Sirui, Zhuang, Qianlai, Yu, Zicheng, Bridgham, Scott, and Keller, Jason K. Quantifying peat carbon accumulation in Alaska using a process-based biogeochemistry model. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1002/2016JG003452.
Wang, Sirui, Zhuang, Qianlai, Yu, Zicheng, Bridgham, Scott, & Keller, Jason K. Quantifying peat carbon accumulation in Alaska using a process-based biogeochemistry model. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JG003452
Wang, Sirui, Zhuang, Qianlai, Yu, Zicheng, Bridgham, Scott, and Keller, Jason K. Thu .
"Quantifying peat carbon accumulation in Alaska using a process-based biogeochemistry model". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JG003452. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1469351.
@article{osti_1469351,
title = {Quantifying peat carbon accumulation in Alaska using a process-based biogeochemistry model},
author = {Wang, Sirui and Zhuang, Qianlai and Yu, Zicheng and Bridgham, Scott and Keller, Jason K.},
abstractNote = {This study uses an integrated modeling framework that couples the dynamics of hydrology, soil thermal regime, and ecosystem carbon and nitrogen to quantify the long-term peat carbon accumulation in Alaska during the Holocene. Modeled hydrology, soil thermal regime, carbon pools and fluxes, and methane emissions are evaluated using observation data at several peatland sites in Minnesota, Alaska, and Canada. The model is then applied for a 10,000 year (15 ka to 5 ka; 1 ka = 1000 cal years before present) simulation at four peatland sites. We find that model simulations match the observed carbon accumulation rates at fen sites during the Holocene (R2 = 0.88, 0.87, 0.38, and -0.05 using comparisons in 500 year bins). The simulated (2.04 m) and observed peat depths (on average 1.98 m) were also compared well (R2 = 0.91). The early Holocene carbon accumulation rates, especially during the Holocene thermal maximum (HTM) (35.9 g C m-2 yr-1), are estimated up to 6 times higher than the rest of the Holocene (6.5 g C m-2 yr-1). Our analysis suggests that high summer temperature and the lengthened growing season resulted from the elevated insolation seasonality, along with wetter-than-before conditions might be major factors causing the rapid carbon accumulation in Alaska during the HTM. Here, our sensitivity tests indicate that, apart from climate, initial water table depth and vegetation canopy are major drivers to the estimated peat carbon accumulation. Finally, when the modeling framework is evaluated for various peatland types in the Arctic, it can quantify peatland carbon accumulation at regional scales.},
doi = {10.1002/2016JG003452},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences},
number = 8,
volume = 121,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Aug 04 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Thu Aug 04 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 8 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
A Continuous Satellite-Derived Measure of Global Terrestrial Primary Production
journal, January 2004
- Running, Steven W.; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.; Heinsch, Faith Ann
- BioScience, Vol. 54, Issue 6
Contemporary carbon balance and late Holocene carbon accumulation in a northern peatland
journal, February 2007
- Roulet, Nigel T.; Lafleur, Peter M.; Richard, Pierre J. H.
- Global Change Biology, Vol. 13, Issue 2
Equilibrium Responses of Soil Carbon to Climate Change: Empirical and Process-Based Estimates
journal, July 1995
- McGuire, A. David; Melillo, Jerry M.; Kicklighter, David W.
- Journal of Biogeography, Vol. 22, Issue 4/5
Soil carbon pools and world life zones
journal, July 1982
- Post, Wilfred M.; Emanuel, William R.; Zinke, Paul J.
- Nature, Vol. 298, Issue 5870
Rates of peat accumulation during the postglacial period in 32 sites from Alaska to Newfoundland, with special emphasis on northern Minnesota
journal, May 2003
- Gorham, Eville; Janssens, Joannes A.; Glaser, Paul H.
- Canadian Journal of Botany, Vol. 81, Issue 5
The role of snow cover in the warming of arctic permafrost: THE WARMING OF ARCTIC PERMAFROST
journal, July 2003
- Stieglitz, Marc; Déry, S. J.; Romanovsky, V. E.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 30, Issue 13
Controls over carbon storage and turnover in high-latitude soils
journal, December 2000
- Hobbie, Sarah E.; Schimel, Joshua P.; Trumbore, Susan E.
- Global Change Biology, Vol. 6, Issue S1
Methane flux from Minnesota Peatlands
journal, December 1988
- Crill, P. M.; Bartlett, K. B.; Harriss, R. C.
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 2, Issue 4
Northern Peatlands: Role in the Carbon Cycle and Probable Responses to Climatic Warming
journal, May 1991
- Gorham, Eville
- Ecological Applications, Vol. 1, Issue 2
Modeling soil thermal and carbon dynamics of a fire chronosequence in interior Alaska
journal, December 2002
- Zhuang, Q.; McGuire, A. D.; O'Neill, K. P.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 108, Issue D1
Incorporation of a permafrost model into a large-scale ecosystem model: Evaluation of temporal and spatial scaling issues in simulating soil thermal dynamics
journal, December 2001
- Zhuang, Q.; Romanovsky, V. E.; McGuire, A. D.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 106, Issue D24
Holocene climate changes in eastern Beringia (NW North America) – A systematic review of multi-proxy evidence
journal, September 2016
- Kaufman, Darrell S.; Axford, Yarrow L.; Henderson, Andrew C. G.
- Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 147
Pathways of anaerobic carbon cycling across an ombrotrophic-minerotrophic peatland gradient
journal, January 2007
- Keller, Jason K.; Bridgham, Scott D.
- Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 52, Issue 1
The temperature dependence of organic-matter decomposition—still a topic of debate
journal, September 2006
- Kirschbaum, M.
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 38, Issue 9
Carbon balance in the tundra, boreal forest and humid tropical forest during climate change: scaling up from leaf physiology and soil carbon dynamics
journal, October 1995
- Wang, Y. P.; Polglase, P. J.
- Plant, Cell and Environment, Vol. 18, Issue 10
A database and synthesis of northern peatland soil properties and Holocene carbon and nitrogen accumulation
journal, June 2014
- Loisel, Julie; Yu, Zicheng; Beilman, David W.
- The Holocene, Vol. 24, Issue 9
Quantifying wetland methane emissions with process-based models of different complexities
journal, January 2010
- Tang, J.; Zhuang, Q.; Shannon, R. D.
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 7, Issue 11
Modeling the effects of snowpack on heterotrophic respiration across northern temperate and high latitude regions: Comparison with measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide in high latitudes
journal, January 2000
- McGuire, A. D.; Melillo, J. M.; Randerson, J. T.
- Biogeochemistry, Vol. 48, Issue 1, p. 91-114
Carbon dioxide and methane production potentials of peats from natural, harvested and restored sites, eastern Québec, Canada
journal, June 2004
- Glatzel, Stephan; Basiliko, Nathan; Moore, Tim
- Wetlands, Vol. 24, Issue 2
Potential analogues for paleoclimatic variations in eastern interior Alaska during the past 14,000yr: atmospheric-circulation controls of regional temperature and moisture responses
journal, January 2001
- Edwards, Mary E.; Mock, Cary J.; Finney, Bruce P.
- Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 20, Issue 1-3
The Influence of Water Table Levels on Methane and Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Peatland Soils
journal, February 1989
- Moore, T. R.; Knowles, R.
- Canadian Journal of Soil Science, Vol. 69, Issue 1
A modelling study of the effects of changes in atmospheric CO 2 concentration, temperature and atmospheric nitrogen input on soil organic carbon storage
journal, January 1993
- Kirschbaum, Miko U. F.
- Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology, Vol. 45, Issue 4
Short-term response of methane fluxes and methanogen activity to water table and soil warming manipulations in an Alaskan peatland
journal, January 2008
- Turetsky, M. R.; Treat, C. C.; Waldrop, M. P.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113
Global peatland dynamics since the Last Glacial Maximum: GLOBAL PEATLANDS SINCE THE LGM
journal, July 2010
- Yu, Zicheng; Loisel, Julie; Brosseau, Daniel P.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 37, Issue 13
Transient simulations of the carbon and nitrogen dynamics in northern peatlands: from the Last Glacial Maximum to the 21st century
journal, January 2013
- Spahni, R.; Joos, F.; Stocker, B. D.
- Climate of the Past, Vol. 9, Issue 3
Rapid Carbon Response of Peatlands to Climate Change
journal, November 2008
- Bridgham, Scott D.; Pastor, John; Dewey, Bradley
- Ecology, Vol. 89, Issue 11
Simulation of the Last 21 000 Years Using Accelerated Transient Boundary Conditions
journal, September 2007
- Timm, Oliver; Timmermann, Axel
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 20, Issue 17
Long-term sensitivity of soil carbon turnover to warming
journal, January 2005
- Knorr, W.; Prentice, I. C.; House, J. I.
- Nature, Vol. 433, Issue 7023
Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change
journal, March 2006
- Davidson, Eric A.; Janssens, Ivan A.
- Nature, Vol. 440, Issue 7081
Deeper Snow Enhances Winter Respiration from Both Plant-associated and Bulk Soil Carbon Pools in Birch Hummock Tundra
journal, May 2007
- Nobrega, Sonia; Grogan, Paul
- Ecosystems, Vol. 10, Issue 3
Holocene development of the Rogovaya River peat plateau, European Russian Arctic
journal, January 2001
- Oksanen, P. O.; Kuhry, P.; Alekseeva, R. N.
- The Holocene, Vol. 11, Issue 1
Methane fluxes between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere at northern high latitudes during the past century: A retrospective analysis with a process-based biogeochemistry model: METHANE EMISSIONS FROM NORTHERN HIGH LATITUDES
journal, August 2004
- Zhuang, Q.; Melillo, J. M.; Kicklighter, D. W.
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 18, Issue 3
A synthesis of methane emissions from 71 northern, temperate, and subtropical wetlands
journal, April 2014
- Turetsky, Merritt R.; Kotowska, Agnieszka; Bubier, Jill
- Global Change Biology, Vol. 20, Issue 7
Modeling impacts of changes in temperature and water table on C gas fluxes in an Alaskan peatland: Modeling C Gas Fluxes in Peatland
journal, July 2015
- Deng, Jia; Li, Changsheng; Frolking, Steve
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 120, Issue 7
The spatial and temporal complexity of the Holocene thermal maximum
journal, May 2009
- Renssen, H.; Seppä, H.; Heiri, O.
- Nature Geoscience, Vol. 2, Issue 6
Evaluating CO2 and CH4 dynamics of Alaskan ecosystems during the Holocene Thermal Maximum
journal, February 2014
- He, Yujie; Jones, Miriam C.; Zhuang, Qianlai
- Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 86
A COMPARISON OF DELTA CHANGE AND DOWNSCALED GCM SCENARIOS FOR THREE MOUNTAINOUS BASINS IN THE UNITED STATES 1
journal, April 2000
- Hay, Lauren E.; Wilby, Robert L.; Leavesley, George H.
- JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, Vol. 36, Issue 2
CO 2 and CH 4 exchanges between land ecosystems and the atmosphere in northern high latitudes over the 21st century
journal, January 2006
- Zhuang, Qianlai; Melillo, Jerry M.; Sarofim, Marcus C.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, Issue 17
Contribution of hydrogen to methane production and control of hydrogen concentrations in methanogenic soils and sediments
journal, March 1999
- Conrad, R.
- FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Vol. 28, Issue 3
Solid-phase organic matter reduction regulates anaerobic decomposition in bog soil
journal, May 2013
- Keller, Jason K.; Takagi, Kimberly K.
- Ecosphere, Vol. 4, Issue 5
Sensitivity of the carbon cycle in the Arctic to climate change
journal, November 2009
- McGuire, A. David; Anderson, Leif G.; Christensen, Torben R.
- Ecological Monographs, Vol. 79, Issue 4
A Burning Interest in Boreal Forests: Researchers in Alaska Link Fires with Climate Change
journal, January 2001
- Senkowsky, Sonya
- BioScience, Vol. 51, Issue 11
A summary of the PRUDENCE model projections of changes in European climate by the end of this century
journal, March 2007
- Christensen, Jens Hesselbjerg; Christensen, Ole Bøssing
- Climatic Change, Vol. 81, Issue S1
Rapid deglacial and early Holocene expansion of peatlands in Alaska
journal, April 2010
- Jones, M. C.; Yu, Z.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 107, Issue 16
Control of carbon mineralization to CH4 and CO2 in anaerobic,Sphagnum-derived peat from Big Run Bog, West Virginia
journal, June 1987
- Yavitt, Joseph B.; Lang, Gerald E.; Wieder, R. Kelman
- Biogeochemistry, Vol. 4, Issue 2
A simple model for simulation of water content, soil frost, and soil temperatures in boreal mixed mires
journal, December 1999
- Granberg, G.; Grip, H.; Löfvenius, M. Ottosson
- Water Resources Research, Vol. 35, Issue 12
Heatwave 2003: high summer temperature, rather than experimental fertilization, affects vegetation and CO 2 exchange in an alpine bog
journal, July 2008
- Gerdol, Renato; Bragazza, Luca; Brancaleoni, Lisa
- New Phytologist, Vol. 179, Issue 1
Carbon cycling in extratropical terrestrial ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere during the 20th century: a modeling analysis of the influences of soil thermal dynamics
journal, July 2003
- Zhuang, Q.; McGUIRE, A. D.; Melillo, J. M.
- Tellus B, Vol. 55, Issue 3
Early Pleistocene Glacial Cycles and the Integrated Summer Insolation Forcing
journal, July 2006
- Huybers, P.
- Science, Vol. 313, Issue 5786
A new model of Holocene peatland net primary production, decomposition, water balance, and peat accumulation
journal, January 2010
- Frolking, S.; Roulet, N. T.; Tuittila, E.
- Earth System Dynamics, Vol. 1, Issue 1
Holocene thermal maximum in the western Arctic (0–180°W)
journal, March 2004
- Kaufman, D.
- Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 23, Issue 5-6
Estimating carbon accumulation rates of undrained mires in Finland–application to boreal and subarctic regions
journal, January 2002
- Turunen, Jukka; Tomppo, Erkki; Tolonen, Kimmo
- The Holocene, Vol. 12, Issue 1
The temperature dependence of soil organic matter decomposition, and the effect of global warming on soil organic C storage
journal, June 1995
- Kirschbaum, Miko U. F.
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 27, Issue 6
Carbon respiration from subsurface peat accelerated by climate warming in the subarctic
journal, July 2009
- Dorrepaal, Ellen; Toet, Sylvia; van Logtestijn, Richard S. P.
- Nature, Vol. 460, Issue 7255
Influence of changes in wetland inundation extent on net fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane in northern high latitudes from 1993 to 2004
journal, September 2015
- Zhuang, Qianlai; Zhu, Xudong; He, Yujie
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 10, Issue 9
A modelling study of the effects of changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration, temperature and atmospheric nitrogen input on soil organic carbon storage
journal, September 1993
- Kirschbaum, Miko U. F.
- Tellus B, Vol. 45, Issue 4
Works referencing / citing this record:
Potential shift from a carbon sink to a source in Amazonian peatlands under a changing climate
journal, November 2018
- Wang, Sirui; Zhuang, Qianlai; Lähteenoja, Outi
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115, Issue 49